Kosovo: Remains of at least 23 people found in Zubin Potok

The Kosovo Special Prosecution Office announced today that, as part of excavation and exhumation activities in the Zubin Potok case, the remains of at least 23 people have been identified.

"Full identification will be carried out after the completion of forensic examinations and appropriate procedures," they said in a statement.

The chairman of the government's commission for missing persons, Agron Ljimani, said that he expects the excavations in Mala Kaludra and Jabuka in the Zubin Potok municipality to be completed by the end of the month.

He said that teams on the ground are in the final stages of excavation.

"We are in the final phase of excavation at the third point, or third location, given that work at the first and second locations has been completed. Now only the third location remains. We hope that this location will also be completed by the end of next week and that all the remains found will be transported to the forensic medicine facilities," said Ljimani.

He said that so far no samples have been sent to The Hague for DNA analysis, as they are waiting for all excavations to be completed.

Excavations began on July 28, following suspicions that the site contained a grave with the remains of what authorities said were believed to be 23 Albanian civilians from Srbica and Mitrovica.

They included doctors, professors, lawyers and people of other professions. It is suspected that they were kidnapped by Serbian forces on April 19, 1999.

Excavations at three locations in the Zubin Potok municipality, namely in Mala Kaludra and Jabuka, began after Kosovo police arrested two individuals, with the initials MJ and M. B, on suspicion of war crimes and the murder of 23 Albanian civilians. Another Serb was subsequently arrested on the same suspicions.

Kosovo authorities published a preliminary list of war victims for the first time last month.

There are still 1.579 people registered as forcibly disappeared.

The list also documents 11.404 people killed and 242 people who died as a result of the war.